Friday

Jul 29, 2011 at 12:01 AMJul 29, 2011 at 3:55 AM

With the pitched battle over raising the debt ceiling nearing a resolution, President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Congress this week to come up with a new idea for engaging lawmakers in continued bitter internecine combat, as members of both parties were unable to reach an agreement on the ideological grounds on which to stage their next all-consuming partisan fight.

With the pitched battle over raising the debt ceiling nearing a resolution, President Barack Obama stepped up pressure on Congress this week to come up with a new idea for engaging lawmakers in continued bitter internecine combat, as members of both parties were unable to reach an agreement on the ideological grounds on which to stage their next all-consuming partisan fight.

Addressing reporters in an appearance in the White House briefing room, and clearly frustrated with the pace of negotiations, the president sought to cast himself as much an honest broker as a partisan participant in the talks, pledging to put forth a new plan for a costly stimulus program in return for the Republicans’ commitment to continue resisting any call for higher taxes on the nation’s wealthiest individuals or businesses, and saying any deal would require an utter lack of cooperation from both Democrats and Republicans.

“Sooner or later we are going to resolve this debt ceiling crisis,” Mr. Obama said on Wednesday. “What worries me — and what should concern the members of both parties — is what comes next? Are we just going to kick the can down the road or are we going to really dig in again, roll up our sleeves and do the hard work needed to create another unnecessary crisis. I don’t want to wait until the next election for this. And I don’t think the American people want to, either. So let’s stop arguing about what to fight over and start throwing peas at each other and get this done.”

Senate Republicans have suggested in recent days that a “mini-deal” be struck, allowing Democrats and Republicans to argue over arcane points of contention such as gym privileges, office space, and the names given to certain foods served in the congressional cafeteria, thereby postponing the need for an agreement on the real topics of dispute until the 2012 election.

“I understand the president’s frustration. I really do,” said Speaker John A. Boehner. “There are lots of things we could be arguing about – including what he does with his left elbow on his golf swing — but I think it is unrealistic for him to expect us to come to an agreement with Democrats when we can’t even agree among ourselves about what we are supposed to be fighting about.”

Mr. Obama, who met secretly with Mr. Boehner at the White House on Sunday to try to advance an agreement on the next partisan fight, called House and Senate leaders from both parties to the White House for further acrimonious input on Tuesday. And he rejected talk of an interim deal that would only get the government briefly bickering again without furthering contemptuous battles over some of the longer-term issues.

But Mr. Boehner, while again saying that higher taxes were a good nonstarter, expressed displeasure at Mr. Obama’s willingness to single out entitlements, saying the president was trying to take one of the traditional sources of friction between the two parties off the table right from the start.

“I’m pleased the president stated today that we need to find long-term challenges to fight over, but I am dismayed to see that he is, to this point, unwilling to remain inflexible and uncompromising on those issues so sacred to his own party. He is all but making it impossible to reach a disagreement that will satisfy both Democrats and Republicans,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement.

The president encouraged Democrats and Republicans to continue publicly airing their irritations with one another, saying such forums have historically been a prime source for partisan discord, and he supported the Republicans’ call for an imbalanced argument amendment to the Constitution. He also insisted that any meeting scheduled by either party include House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, praising the representative from Virginia as a consistent source of irritation to both parties.

Mr. Obama said he still hoped to reach “a big deal” on a lasting caustic quarrel so the government would not have to continually revisit the contentious issue of partisan bickering every few months or so.

“This shouldn’t be that hard to do,” Mr. Obama told reporters. “We are so far apart on so many issues, it is almost incomprehensible that we would not be able to reach an agreement on our disagreements. But here we are.”

Philip Maddocks can be reached at pmaddocks@wickedlocal.com.

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